Psych and Science
This field is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
What is psychology?
A researcher observes children playing on a playground without interfering with their behavior.
What research method is being used?
What is naturalistic observation?
A scatterplot is primarily used to display the relationship between these two things.
What are two variables?
This measure of central tendency is calculated by adding all scores and dividing by the number of scores.
What is the mean?
This variable is manipulated by the researcher.
What is the independent variable?
This committee reviews research proposals involving human participants to determine whether ethical standards are met.
What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
A researcher discovers that students who sleep more tend to earn higher grades. She concludes that getting more sleep causes better grades.
What major error has she made?
What is assuming correlation demonstrates causation?
A researcher conducts an intensive investigation of one individual who experienced a rare neurological disorder.
What research method is this?
What is a case study?
As the amount of exercise increases, students' reported energy levels also increase.
What type of correlation is this?
What is a positive correlation?
Find the median:
4, 7, 9, 12, 15
What is 9?
This variable is measured to determine whether the independent variable had an effect.
What is the dependent variable?
Before participating in research, participants must be informed about the study and its potential risks and benefits.
What ethical principle is this?
What is informed consent?
After an election result is announced, a person says, “I knew that candidate was going to win all along.”
What cognitive bias is demonstrated?
What is hindsight bias?
A researcher wants to understand what it is like for immigrants to adjust to a new culture and conducts lengthy interviews with participants.
What type of research would be most appropriate?
What is qualitative research?
As the number of hours students spend watching television increases, the number of hours they spend reading decreases.
What type of correlation is this?
What is a negative correlation?
Find the range:3, 7, 8, 12, 18, 21
What is 18?
Researchers test whether classical music affects test performance. One group takes a test while listening to classical music, while another takes the test in silence.
What is the independent variable?
What is whether classical music is played?
A researcher secretly hires actors to pretend to be ordinary participants so that the real participants behave naturally.
What are these actors called?
What are confederates?
A person believes that because they correctly predicted two unlikely events, they are especially skilled at predicting future events.
What cognitive tendency is most likely involved?
What is overconfidence?
A researcher selects every 20th student from a complete alphabetical list of students.
What sampling method is this closest to?
What is random sampling?
A correlation coefficient of −0.91 would indicate what?
What is a strong negative correlation?
A distribution has two clearly identifiable peaks.
What type of distribution is this?
What is a bimodal distribution?
Researchers studying a new medication give one group the medication and another group a placebo.
Why is the placebo/control group important?
What is providing a standard for comparison?
A researcher tells participants that a study is about memory when the actual purpose is to study conformity. Afterward, the researcher explains the true purpose.
What ethical procedure should occur after such deception?
What is debriefing?
A researcher notices that several students who miss class also perform poorly on exams. Before concluding that missing class causes poor performance, the researcher examines alternative explanations, evaluates evidence, and considers other variables.
What scientific thinking skill is being demonstrated?
What is critical thinking?
A researcher needs participants immediately, so she recruits students sitting in the university cafeteria.
What type of sampling is this?
What is convenience sampling?
A correlation coefficient of +0.08 is found between two variables.
What does this tell the researcher?
What is little to no linear correlation?
According to the empirical rule, approximately what percentage of scores in a normal distribution fall within two standard deviations of the mean?
What is 95%?
In a double-blind experiment, neither the participants nor the researchers interacting directly with them know who received the treatment.
What is the primary purpose of this procedure?
What is reducing bias and expectancy effects?
A researcher wants to conduct an experiment but discovers that participants could face significant psychological or physical risks.
What should the researcher and IRB consider before approving the study?
What is whether the potential benefits justify the risks while protecting participants' welfare and rights?